Introduction

Skim through the literature on school reform, and words like "trust," "respect," "collegiality," and "buy-in" appear again and again (Maeroff, 1993; Royal & Rossi, 1997; Sergiovanni, 1992). But while it seems to be generally assumed that trust is a core criterion of successful school improvement efforts, few publications address the issue explicitly or examine it in much depth.

Part of the problem, no doubt, is the fuzzy nature of the word "trust." Although most of us can easily identify relationships in which trust is or is not present, pinning down precisely what trust entails is harder to do. From the perspective of educational researchers, the level of trust present within a school is a difficult thing to measure, much less connect to concrete outcomes such as teacher retention, parent involvement, or student performance on standardized tests. While it may be clear, intuitively, that trust "matters," questions about why and how are not so easily addressed.

This booklet examines the issue of trust within the context of school improvement, looking specifically at teacher-teacher and teacher-principal relationships. Drawing on existing research as well as the experiences of individual schools, we offer a summary of current literature, discuss common roadblocks to trust-building, and identify specific steps that educators can take to increase the level of trust in their schools. A second booklet, to be published in December, will revisit the issue of trust as it relates to strengthening relationships among schools, students, and families.